And this is it in a nutshell.
My thought last week was that it was symptomatic of the arrogance that has swept over both the club and supporters, and there was generally an assumption that we would win yesterday.
I read a post before about people being "self-entitled" for not turning up. However, I only did last year's parade because it was really special. Hanging around for an hour to get a few seconds glimpse of players is something that those that don't go to games are more inclined to do than those who have seen all the celebrations in the stadium. Quite frankly, I've got better things to do. It's for kids and their families.
What those organising need to do, though, is think ahead. You didn't need to be a rocket scientist to work out that the mood would be dark if we lost to a pretty average Manchester United side in the Final. In reality, the celebratory mood for the title win has lost momentum, and in the couple of days after losing to United in a Final, that's the overriding emotion.
If we'd left this a few days, the mood would have lifted again, but as it happens, to hold a parade the day after losing a Cup Final to United is going to require a lot of false emotion. Are the players supposed to party on the bus a day after blowing the double against the Rags? Are we as supporters supposed to forget the hurt of yesterday in an instant and have a right good knees-up?
You can add to all of that that many have just had along journey home today and simply don't want to decamp to Manchester city centre on a Bank Holiday Sunday night when many will have other plans already in place.
The turnout for this parade is going to be shambolically low and it will create some dreadful PR. It will play perfectly into the hands of our enemies, who will use pictures of it for years to try and embarrass us with.
We gambled upon winning yesterday when organising this and now we have to go with it despite not doing. It's a spectacular own goal, and it'll be all over social media within the hour.
